Clarinet stands



1967 ,J. H; "SMITH ETAL 3,

CLARINET STANDS Filed March 4, 1966 INVENTORS JOHN H. SMITH BERNARD L. EHRucH ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,357,666 CLARINET STANDS John H. Smith, 1713 S. 8th St. 80906, and Bernard L. Ehrlich, 1505 Holmes Drive 80909, both of Colorado Springs, (1010.

Filed Mar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 531,670 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-125) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A collapsible tripod supporting a vertical socket tube in which the lower vertical portion of an instrument rod is mounted for vertical adjustment-the upper portion of said rod being inclined to one side of the vertical rod axis and fixedly supporting two parallel open rings of dilfering diameters at right angles to the axis of said inclined portion, the larger ring eccentrically surrounding the inclined portion of said rod proximate to the vertical portion thereof and the smaller ring eocentrically surrounding the inclined portion of said rod in distant relation to the larger ring, said rod passing through both rings and being fixedly secured to inner circumference of each.

This invention relates to a supporting stand for supporting a wind instrument such as a clarinet in playing position. It is difiicult for beginners to support such an instrument and simultaneously master the fingering of the keys since the students fingers must serve the double purpose of both supporting and playing the instrument. Eventually the double purpose will become an unconscious action but until this point is reached, the student has great difiiculty in holding the instrument while learning and practising the fingering.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a simple, light-weight, portable stand which can be quickly and easily adjusted to support a clarinet in the proper playing position for a student of any age or size so that the student may become accustomed to the feel of the instrument while practising fingering thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stand for the above purpose which will require no attachment to the instrument so that the student can lift the instrument from the stand while playing to become familiar with self-support of the instrument.

A further object is to so construct the stand that it will accept instruments of various types and sizes without marring or damaging the instrument and without interferring with tonal qualities of the latter.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efliciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved stand with a clarinet in place thereon; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, vertical, longitudinal, section taken on the vertical center-line of the stand.

In FIG. 1 a typical clarinet is illustrated with its body at 10, bell at 11 and keys at 12.

The stand of this invention includes a vertical socket tube 13 upon the upper extremity of which a set screw collar 14 is mounted in any suitable manner, such as by means of a thumb type set screw 15 which is threaded through both the collar 14 and the tube 13.

The socket tube 13 extends slidably and downwardly through a cylindrical tripod sleeve 16 in which the tube ice may be preset at any desired vertical position by means of a second thumb type set screw 17. The sleeve 16 is formed with three radially extending, uniformly-spaced pairs of hinge lugs 18. A tripod leg 19 is hingedly mounted, upon a hinge pin 20, between the lugs 18 of each pair of lugs and extends downwardly therefrom.

The legs extend upwardly beyond the hinge pins 20., as shown at 21, so as to contact the sleeve 16 when the legs are spread outwardly a predetermined degree to form a uniform tripod support for the sleeve 16 which maintains the socket tube 13 in a fixed vertical position when in use. When not in use, the legs are folded parallel to the tube 13.

The principal element of the stand is an instrument rod 22, the lower portion of which is slidably mounted in the vertical socket tube 13 and the upper portion of which extends at an angle of substantially 30 from the vertical. The rod 22 can be adjusted to any desired vertical position in the socket tube 13 by means of the first set screw 15. The socket tube can be adjusted to any desired vertical position in the tripod sleeve by means of the second set screw 17.

The instrument rod 22 extends through and is welded or otherwise secured to a bell ring 23 and a body ring 24 both positioned at right angles to the axis of the upper portion of the rod 22.

The body ring 24 is positioned-adjacent the upper extremity of the rod 22 and has an outer diameter to fit snugly into the smaller internal diameter of the bell 11 where it joins the body 10 of the instrument. It has been found that an outer diameter of substantially 1" is usually practical. Due to the small diameter of the ring 24, it is preferred to form it of flat band material of minimum thickness so as not to interfere with the air flow of the bell of the instrument.

The bell ring 23 is spaced downwardly from the body ring 24 a distance less than the length of the instrument bell 11, preferably approximately 3" and has an outside diameter substantially corresponding to or slightly less than the inside diameter adjacent the lower extremity of the bell 11. An O.D. diameter of 2" has been satisfactory for standard instruments. Since there would be less air resistance adjacent the mouth of the bell, the bell ring is preferably formed of round rod in diameter to facilitate insertion in the instrument.

The use of the stand is believed to be apparent from FIG. 1. Briefly, the bell 11 of the instrument is placed over the rings 23 and 24 and the height is adjusted by means of the set screws 15 and 17 to place the instruments mouthpiece at the mouth of the, preferably seated, student for practise and instruction.

While a specific form of the invention has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A stand for supporting a wood-wind instrument, of a type having a tubular body terminating in a flaring bell of increasing diameter at its lower extremity, in a playing position comprising:

(a) an instrument rod having a vertical lower portion and an inclined upper portion extending upwardly and sidewardly at an acute angle to the vertical axis of said lower portion;

(b) a circular bell ring eccentrically surrounding said inclined portion, the inner circumference of said bell ring being fixedly secured to said rod to maintain the bell ring at right angles to said inclined portion, the outer circumference of said bell ring being unobstructed so that it may make annular contact With the larger diameter portion of the bell of said instrument;

(c) a circular body ring of less diameter than said bell ring similarly surrounding and similarly mounted on said inclined portion in spaced and parallel relation to and above said bell ring, the outer circumference of said body ring being unobstructed so that it may make annular contact with a smaller diameter portion of the bell of the instrument; and

(d) an adjustable means Supporting the lower portion of said instrument rod in a vertical position.

2. An instrument-supporting stand as described in claim 1 in which the smaller body ring is formed from flat band material so as to minimize obstruction of air flow therethrough, said rod being welded to the inside annular face of said band.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hardy 248-435 Blondin 84-327 Walberg 248--121 Cochran et a1 21174 X Carlini 84453 X Bunch 248-121 Linville 248-122 X ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

15 R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A STAND FOR SUPPORTING A WOOD-WIND INSTRUMENT, OF A TYPE HAVING A TUBULAR BODY TERMINATING IN A FLARING BELL OF INCREASING DIAMETER AT ITS LOWER EXTREMITY, IN A PLAYING POSITION COMPRISING: (A) AN INSTRUMENT ROD HAVING A VERTICAL LOWER PORTION AND AN INCLINED UPPER PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND SIDEWARDLY AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO THE VERTICAL AXIS OF SAID LOWER PORTION; (B) A CIRCULAR BELL RING ECCENTRICALLY SURROUNDING SAID INCLINED PORTION, THE INNER CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID BELL RING BEING FIXEDLY SECURED TO SAID ROD TO MAINTAIN THE BELL RING AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID INCLINED PORTION, THE OUTER CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID BELL RING BEING UNOBSTRUCTED SO THAT IT MAY MAKE ANNULAR CONTACT WITH THE LARGER DIAMETER PORTION OF THE BELL OF SAID INSTRUMENT; (C) A CIRCULAR BODY RING OF LESS DIAMETER THAN SAID BELL RING SIMILARLY SURROUNDING AND SIMILARLY MOUNTED ON SAID INCLINED PORTION IN SPACED AND PARALLEL RELATION TO AND ABOVE SAID BELL RING, THE OUTER CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID BODY RING BEING UNOBSTRUCTED SO THAT IT MAY MAKE ANNULAR CONTACT WITH A SMALLER DIAMETER PORTION OF THE BELL OF THE INSTRUMENT; AND (D) AN ADJUSTABLE MEANS SUPPORTING THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID INSTRUMENT ROD IN VERTICAL POSITION. 